Top brass at Kent County Council are in discussions with industry experts about reviving commercial ferry crossings at the Port of Ramsgate.

Pressure at the Port of Dover from growing haulage traffic has revived the business case for ferries from the site, according to Mark Dance, cabinet member for economic development.

The Conservative councillor said he was in “early conversations” with a group who are devising a business plan to relaunch services from Ramsgate to Ostend.

The last firm to run a ferry service from there to the Belgium port was TransEuropa Ferries, which went into administration in May 2013, owing Thanet council more than £3 million.

However Cllr Dance said a potential reduction in ferry capacity at Dover, caused by Eurotunnel having to close its MyFerryLink operation, unless it sells it by July, adds to Ramsgate’s case.

He said freight traffic at the port will increase anyway as new European legislation banning cheap heavy duty oil in the North Sea makes it more expensive to transport goods over large swathes of water.

It comes as the Port of Dover revealed this week it handled record levels of freight traffic last year, with more than 2.4 million trucks and lorries carrying goods worth £100 billion.

Cllr Dance said: “I have been talking to people in the industry because we feel Ramsgate has become viable again.

“We are investing a huge amount of money in east Kent’s roads but we have nothing running out of Thanet.

“Ramsgate comes back into the frame because of what’s happening with increased haulage and the potential of losing three ships in Dover.

“If MyFerryLink ceases, Dover will have less capacity. It is going to be under intense pressure, added to by the new exit checks, and if anything goes wrong it will very quickly become unviable.”

Cllr Dance said launching services from Ramsgate to Ostend would suit drivers going to Eastern Europe.

He said: “It is a bigger sea crossing but they are better placed there to reach those countries than they would be at Calais or Brugge.”

Representatives from Thanet District Council, who own the Port of Ramsgate, are at the Multimodal freight conference in Birmingham this week trying to attract interest in the site.

A spokesperson for the council said it had made it clear after Transeuropa's collapse that it would explore whether an alternative ferry operator could be found to re-establish a ferry link between Ramsgate and the continent.

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